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‘At the service of the establishment’: Why an Indian comic envies Jimmy Kimmel, free speech in the US
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In India, censorship under PM Modi is so entrenched that shows like Jimmy Kimmel's is increasingly out of the question.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
Mujib Mashal
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PONDICHERRY, India – From his bachelor pad of exile in a secluded corner of his own country, Indian stand-up comic Kunal Kamra watched the free speech debate in the United States that followed Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension with a sense of deja vu, alarm and lots of envy.
The decision by broadcaster ABC to sideline its late-night host, after criticism from the Trump administration, set off a wave of protests that the country’s consequential traditions of free speech were being eroded. Within a week, Mr Kimmel was back on air
